ClockTower 3

I recently completed Clocktower 3 by Capcom. My feelings? Interesting story told in a very heavy-handed manner. Gameplay was fairly straightforward and enjoyable albeit linear. Graphic environments were well executed, however background music / sound did not live up to the task. Cutscenes were excellent. The overall experience was fun, though brief. With the exception of the final boss, the game took me less than 6 total hours of gameplay.

On a scale of 1 – 10?

Graphics = 8

BG Music / Sound = 4

Sound FX = 7

Story = 8

Fun Factor = 7

Replayability = 4

Overall Rating = 6.3

The major opportunities for improvement, in my mind, would be music first. The loops were way too short and simple. They actually distracted from gameplay. The issue with “replayability” is really a matter of the linear nature of the game. Now that I know the puzzles, the only real challenge is surviving the bosses when their difficulty is increased. The linear construction particularly conflicts with replaying the game, in this case, because the game is focused on avoiding conflict (unlike Resident Evil), therefore, the player doesn’t have that action experience moment to moment to relive. Clocktower is really about solving puzzles and beating one boss per stage which just doesn’t provide a decent incentive to replay the game when the puzzles have been solved. A problem like this, though, can’t be solved after the fact. This is something that had to be addressed way back during the initial design of the gameplay.

The final boss was a wicked pain, but once I figured out the rhythm, he’s wasn’t that bad. (It just took me a long time to figure out the rhythm!) One of my apartment mates took this video of my victorious moment.